I set my hand on her stomach. Maybe this is playing dirty, or maybe it’s pointless. She’s the only one besides me who hasn’t been fawning over the life growing inside her. Even Ari is endlessly intrigued by the way her stomach is growing. Phoenix and James never stop talking to the bump, and I’ve caught them nuzzling and kissing it in her sleep.
But Alice seems detached, and maybe it’s because she’s afraid like me. This could mean happiness, but it’s also one more thing someone can use to hurt me.
“I think when it comes down to it, Alice, you’ll know. You don’t need him anymore. There’s nothing he can offer you that we can’t give you tenfold.”
I stare into her eyes and see the moment when the realization hits her. It won’t last, of course. It’ll come and go until one day, it just settles in her bones, and she knows without a shadow of a doubt that she is our world, and we’re hers.
But it’s enough for now.
It’s enough to give her the courage to do this.
Tipping her chin up, I kiss her—just a simple press of lips, warm and soft. When I break away, I don’t go far. I nuzzle my nose against hers, then drop my forehead to her cheek and breathe her in. “In a few days, little goddess, you’re going to be my wife. Our wife,” I add, pulling back. “I trust you to protect us.”
There’s fire in her eyes now—determination. She slides off my lap, then stands between my legs and looks at me for a long, long moment. “Will you come down there with me and wait?”
I push to my feet, taking a moment to steady myself on the prosthetic. I debate about grabbing my cane, but instead, I take her hand and allow her to counter my slightly wobbly balance. Bringing her knuckles up for a kiss, I feel more tension bleed out of her as we make our way out of the room and into the first step of her proving to herself that she’s on our side.
Chapter 13
ALICE
I knewI’d see Leo again. I just hadn’t considered it would be under these circumstances. And yeah, that’s probably a stupid thing to think because I know where I am, and I know who these men are. It’s a goddamn miracle that anyone’s managed to get the jump on them, and over the course of our time in the safe house, Phoenix made it very clear that it wasn’t someone who was better than him. It was just a leak in the pipes.
And that leak has been repaired with pain, blood, screaming, and death. Mostly in that order.
Ari’s kept his work to himself, but I’ve seen him come in looking wild and terrible, and the boys are very good at keeping him away from me for the time being. I see him staring at me sometimes, though—a hungry look in his eye. Part of me wonders if he wants to get me up on his rack and see if I bleed the same, and another part of me wonders if he wants to get me on his rack and fuck me in those rivers of blood.
I don’t know why, but neither one of those things scare me very much, even if they should.
Maybe it’s because I’m trying to find my own beast that’s clearly living somewhere in the dark shadows of my mind.
It feels closer to the surface of my skin now, though, with Kane at my side. We take the descent slowly because he doesn’t have his cane, and he leaves me at the long stretch of hall. He doesn’t tell me where Leo is either, but I don’t need him to. There’s something almost poetic about the way that cell was used for me, then Rhys, and now Leo. It almost feels full circle that I’ll be standing in front of him now, and he’s the one who will be forced to make the choice of submitting or trying to escape.
I don’t think Leo’s ignorant enough to choose the latter, no matter how arrogant he is.
Kane stops me with a squeeze to my wrist just before I pull away from him, and he tugs me close, cupping my face before he kisses me. “I won’t be more than a step away, and both James and Phoenix are watching. You’re safe.”
I nod, not sure if I should pretend I was worried about that or not. Leo might be family, and he might have made me an offer to help me escape, but I don’t think he would be above using me as some sort of bargaining chip.
But worry doesn’t mean fear, and I’m not afraid of him. He gave me the foundation of my training, and the boys here have honed it to perfection. I don’t know that I could overpower him, but I can hold my own and stay alive until they drag him toward his last breath.
I hope he knows this too.
Gently pulling my arm from Kane, I give a final nod before turning on my heel and heading for the door. I’d contemplated wearing something that makes me look dangerous. Sort of the way Kane and Phoenix wear their suits, or James in his leather jacket, or Ari in his bloodstained shirts.
Instead, I dressed as I always have because that will send the message better than any costume I might put on.
When I press my hand to the pad on the door, it clicks open. The lights are on and dimmed, and Leo’s in the bed, flat on his back with one foot on the mattress, knee crooked up, and the other hanging off the edge. He has his arm thrown over his eyes, but he drops that and squints, then laughs when I close the door behind me.
“I have to admit I didn’t think they’d start with you. I thought you’d come to finish it.”
I take a breath, then glance around until I spot a chair in the corner, and I drag it over to the bed. Leo doesn’t bother getting up. Maybe he thinks there’s some weapon hidden in the walls that will shoot him dead if he reaches for me.
For all I know, there is, and he’s smart not to test it.
“You look good, sis.”
“Don’t,” I snap at him, and he raises his brows. “You and I both know there’s no love between us, Leo. The family thing is all a bunch of bullshit.”